Her and His and Her Circumstances
by The Ansem Man
Summary: A twoshot, which may or may not become a collection of oneshots and misadventures, with the trio of Negi, Konoka and Setsuna as the main theme. Yes, all three of them. Watch for perverted talk and language.
1. Conversation Pieces I

(Hello all! Your purveyor of Ansems with a strange new flavor today (what do you mean there's no crossover in this story?!). Here is a Negi/Kono/Setsu twoshot (part II tomorrow, folks.) which may or may not become a series of oneshots with this trio as the main theme. I'm surprised nobody's tried this... or maybe they're all afraid of the KonoSetsu shippers. Either way, I wanted to try something new... or at least sorta new, since Ambrant dabbled with this at least once. Enough rambling from me, let's get it on!)

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**Her and His and Her Circumstances **

**I. "Conversation Pieces I"  
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"It feels strange talking to you like this," Negi Springfield, talented mage and hero extraordinaire, sat on a small table outside of a local tea place in Mahora Academy. "But I really don't think I could pour my heart out to anyone else... without being a jerk to their feelings that is."

The person across from him merely gave a reassuring smirk. "No hard feelings. It has been a while since I last saw you. Speaking of which, how's your marriage going?"

"That's... exactly what I want to talk about," Negi sighed. Being married at such a young age was a bit unsettling, but it had nice benefits. Namely, his significant other he was now betrothed to—Konoka Konoe.

"Konoka is an amazing woman," Negi smiled. "She's beautiful, charming, intelligent, and caring... not to mention _powerful_. I already knew these things when I became her teacher at age ten, but now I can _fully appreciate_ it."

"Eishun's kid? Ha, I was wondering why he's been nice to me," Negi's almost elder double remarked.

"Faaatheerrrr!" Negi complained. "_Seriously_! Two years ago, I was at the highlight of my life. With the embarrassing puberty business far behind me, I actually asked Dean Konoe to arrange an omiai with Konoka. I felt like we really... connected, and the rest, they say, is history."

"Considering all those girls that were in love with you, it can't be easy history. You're getting almost as bad as Jack." Yeah, Nagi Springfield did remember that his son once told him his history through Jack Rakan's eyes. It took him a whole two months to give him his _real_ point of view, and it _wasn't even that different_.

"Father, let me say this," Negi calmly but firmly cut him off. "I know marrying Konoka disappointed a lot of people in my class. Lord knows there were several gunning for me seriously, and I know Nodoka-san and Ayaka-san did not take it well. But there was one other who did not quite survive my decision unscathed."

Nagi thought for a moment, and then the answer hit him. Another person connected to his friend. "Setsuna Sakurazaki."

"Yes. She was happy for her charge, and she was happy for me, but something obviously told me she didn't dig this as nearly as much as I originally thought. I was too oblivious at the time, being elated and all, but I understood right after my honeymoon—_both of us_ were worried sick about Setsuna. That's where this begins."

"Uh-huh," Nagi noted.

"Setsuna is horribly selfless when it comes to Konoka, and she bears a love for her so obvious I even saw it when I was _ten_. Fucking _ten_! And yet Konoka chose me," Negi stopped, his voice quieter. "I wondered back then if Konoka was simply oblivious to her best friend's more romantic desires—it is too cruel of me to say 'her loss' though. And because both of us have gotten so powerful, Setsuna may have felt weak in comparison—not that she actually _is_ weak...

"Then next time we hear of Setsuna, she's nearly gotten herself killed trying to take down several powerful creatures at once (Somehow she still won, though). The mages were suspicious about it and had her placed under suicide watch," Negi recalled seeing that broken bird in that hospital, and it broke his heart—let alone Konoka's. "Konoka and I wound up staying long hours that day, just to bring her comfort."

"So her unrequited love, followed by her feeling useless with you guarding Konoka, made her suicidal?" Nagi clarified. "I hope she's all right, and sorry for being an idiot, but I'm not seeing the connection yet."

"You'll see when I get to it." Negi answered. "Anyway, that day in the hospital started everything now. Konoka would not leave Setsuna's side—I had to drag her away by force. In retrospect that's pretty dumb, but I thought Setsuna had to be strong on her own or she'd never get over it. Then _it_ started happening. Sometimes Konoka would be gone for days at a time, and she'd start feeling guilty during errmm... _sessions_," Negi did NOT like the grin that formed on his father's face. _This_ was why talking to your father was awkward. Negi felt prudent to not mention that said sessions were also _too good_. "Sometimes I'd see feathers in her belongings. About then I was suspicious Konoka was having an affair."

"I was going to confront her about it. But... I love the woman so much I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt—or rather I just wanted her to be honest about it. Not to mention the person she was having an affair with was a dear friend of hers—no, _ours_. And then finally... last night, she confessed," Negi's tone changed to something laced with bitterness with a good helping of guilt and sadness. "'I'm sorry, Negi! I'm cheating on you with Secchan!' Know what my response was, despite being angry?"

Nagi raised his eyebrows, as if to say, "Go on."

Negi sighed. The grimace on his face was a perfect replica of his father's. "'Took you long enough.'"

The Thousand Master laughed hard. "My god, was the sexual tension between those two _that_ thick?!"

"_Yes it was_!" Negi bellowed, something like anger welling up in his voice, but there was not enough malice, so it simply came off as excitement. "So I said, 'That girl was head over heels for you and you didn't even fucking notice?!' Yeah, that question has been buzzing around 3-A ever since our field trip to Kyoto way back then. So you can imagine how long we've been dealing with Setsuna being obviously lovestruck.

"It gets even _better_," Negi added. "Turns out she was FAR from oblivious of it. She said something to the effect of 'I'd be stupid to not notice... but now my heart's in two.' Back then I was worried that she didn't love me as I loved her, and married me only to keep her grandfather and father off her back. I asked then 'what the hell does that mean!? Did you always hold those feelings? Were you only using me as a means of keeping up some sort of normalcy facade?!'"

"Normalcy facade? The hell is that?" Nagi's face was contorted with confusion and annoyance. "Geez kid, you're way too serious when it comes to love! Trying to keep yourself all serious for that long, I'm still amazed that you managed to keep professional!"

"Don't remind me," Negi sulked. "Somehow I keep thinking me being in that super-perv class was completely intentional from all sides..." When Nagi began whistling in a suspiciously innocent manner, Negi banged his fist on the table. "I _knew_ it!" He shot up and glared at his father. "Was this your idea?!"

"No way, but I thought it should've been obvious to you from like, day one," Nagi replied, coolly returning Negi's frustrated stare. He knew too many older adults kept secrets from him, and Nagi was no exception. But his kid definitely didn't need it right now, and he certainly wasn't lying. But he needed to get to the bottom of this. "But cool your jets about that. If Konoka's cheating on you, tell me why you can't up and leave the relationship then."

Negi sighed. "If it were that easy, I would have been gone right then and there... but even if it were just an affair, I doubt I could leave. When I accused her of just forging her relationship with me just so she could avoid conflict, she gets in my face and gives me one of the most intense stares I have ever seen. Then she drops the bombshell: She's in love with both me AND Setsuna. And she wants Setsuna in the relationship."

Smirk still wide, Nagi crowed, "I fail to see an issue here."

"Ugh, figures," Negi banged his head on the table. "I should have called Kotarou instead." He looked at his father in earnest. "Most straight males would celebrate having two girls... _I can't_. Listen, I guess I'm not that close to Setsuna anymore, but Konoka apparently never even thought about abandoning her. I didn't—and still don't—want to leave Setsuna by the wayside either, but... argh, does she know what she's getting into if she commits to this?! The Kansai and Kantou associations will have her head! All those girls I taught will have _my_ head! Why didn't she think of this before we got married?! Does Setsuna's opinion even matter about this?!"

"Wait wait... So lemme get this _straight_," Nagi raised an eyebrow. "Your wife is cheating on you with _another woman_, and she wants you to accept the both of them. You think this is a bad idea not because of the whole sharing thing but because of _politics_?!" He smacked Negi's forehead with a flick of his finger. "My idiocy is finally rubbing off on you."

"Argghh!" Negi flinched and rubbed the resulting welt on his head. "It's _more_ than that! I really don't understand... my _feelings_ on the matter. That's why I'd thought I'd talk to you... so I can sort them out."

"Hmph, it's not really gonna help if you stay indecisive," Nagi said. "You should have more of my idiocy. Screw politics and make both of them happy!" He pumped his fist shaking with shounen manliness despite being over forty. Hey, if Rakan could get away with it, so could he!

"Argh, you're not getting it..." Negi moaned. "I'm probably powerful enough to deal with whatever fallout from this kind of relationship comes my way, but..."

Nagi suddenly changed his demeanor. "In all seriousness, the best thing for you to do is to figure out where you stand with Setsuna. You won't be certain, otherwise."

Negi almost flinched. He wasn't sure when, if ever, his dad showed perceptiveness. "...that makes too much sense! How did you come up with that?!"

Nagi pulled a paper fan out of nowhere and smacked his son with it. "Excuse me? Just because I'm an idiot 99 percent of the time doesn't mean I'm an idiot 100 percent of the time! But seriously. Negi, you've shown a lot of love for Konoka. There's no question there. Your question is with Setsuna. Figure that out, and the solution's obvious."

Negi stopped for a moment. It really did make perfect sense. He could deal with the ramifications if he committed to Konoka's wish later.

He rose. "Thank you, father."

Nagi gave a weak salute. "No problem."

Before Negi ran off though, one last thought occurred to him. _Konoka... can I really heed your wish?_ He waved goodbye to his father before running off towards the station.

Mighty convenient that he had to pick up Setsuna today.

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(As always, concrit/reviews appreciated. I challenge you readers to run with this theme, too. Shake it up!)


	2. Conversation Pieces II

(Note: I DID say part two was showing up today... Don't expect update speed to be this quick from now on.)

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** II. "Conversation Pieces II"**

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"It's been a while, Negi-sen—er Negi-sama." Setsuna Sakurazaki greeted him with a soft and polite bow. Her smile was barely there, but Negi could at least tell it still existed.

"It has, hasn't it?" Negi's hand flashed towards the car door, opening it from where he was driving. "But could we errm, not do the Negi-sama business? I'm not your superior, but an old friend after all."

"As you wish, Negi-sama." Setsuna blithely ignored his request with a small grin on her face. She sat down in the seat and closed the door.

Negi briefly made a Nagi-like grimace. "Anyway... haven't seen you in about a year and a half. How have you been?"

"Just fine, honestly." Setsuna answered. "Going after bounties in the old world isn't a thriving business, despite all the demon attacks. Somehow I seem to manage well."

They talked. She was here because the new dean had an assignment for her, and since she was in the neighborhood, she might as well visit her old friends, and now her old teacher. Negi happily brought her up to speed on what everyone else was up to—namely Asuna and the other White Wings. Somehow, the subject of Konoka was neatly avoided.

Negi took the car out to the woods nearby Eva's cottage, much to Setsuna's surprise.

"What are we stopping here for?" The samurai woman questioned. "I thought we were supposed to meet with the new dean."

"It's gonna be a while, you don't remember? He's off on business and he'll be back later. Besides, you're here really early." Negi hopped out the car and stretched himself. He hadn't really been in there all that long, but a nice stretch always helped.

"I suppose." Setsuna quietly withdrew from the car.

The woods were nice and calm. Both Negi and Setsuna appreciated the quiet and the beauty. Didn't hurt that Eva's barrier was still up, and therefore if any magic noise happened, nobody would be any of the wiser.

Setsuna unsheathed Yuunagi. "If you don't mind, I'm going to practice for a bit. Might help me relieve a bit of stress."

Negi nodded, and she began practicing various techniques.

The man recognized quite a few of those attacks—many of them were the opening of some of her secret techniques. Such dedication. Such grace, such beauty...

...and wait. Why was he just watching? Why did he feel so tense?

Maybe... "Setsuna-san... so how about a practice spar? Just like old times?" He found himself saying those words before he understood what had actually happened.

Setsuna stopped her practice and turned towards him. "Hmph... I hope these times of peace have not made you weak, Negi-sama."

Relief flooded Negi's mind as he pounded both of his fists together. "Doubt that! Hrraauughh!" He rushed forward, an expert fist aimed straight for the woman's face.

Of course, she easily twirled out of harm's way, flowing smoothly into a counterattack. Negi stumbled backwards from absorbing the hit; he doubt he'd be so lucky if she were using the sword for real.

Negi took the offensive once more. Drawing lightning to his hands, he let loose a powerful flurry of punches. Setsuna, however, dodged them with finesse and grace. Negi nearly faltered when she simply drew back and slashed forward, nearly catching him by surprise. He mentally sighed in relief as he kept his eyes on his opponent.

Alas, that relief was short-lived. Negi heard the sound of a tree falling apart, and it was falling right towards him. "Aw, come _oonnn_!" Negi complained, countering the tree's descent to earth by punching it out of harm's way.

With the tree no longer a threat, he noticed Setsuna was out of sight again. Not good.

Then she was back in his face once more. Setsuna's sword was much more coordinated than his punches—it took him that much more effort to dodge them. "Are you losing your touch?"

_I hope not_, Negi mentally responded. Dark thoughts of her claiming Konoka for herself crept into the back of his mind. "No..." He said out loud. Perhaps as much to himself as it was to her, too.

Enough holding back. He focused those dark feelings into powering himself up—no point in repressing it. "Saggita Magica... series lucis!" Now seventeen arrows of light shot from his fingers. Surprised, Setsuna jumped back, deflecting the arrows with her sword. She primed herself to rush him before he could charge another spell, but Negi was already two steps ahead of her.

Charging his fist with lightning again, he started towards her again, only to sweep his hand up a moment later. Powerful thunderbolts crashed onto Setsuna. He didn't hesitate to continue his assault with a rushing punch. However, Setsuna swept forward with her blade, catching his powered up punch with the back of her sword.

"Not bad, huh?" Negi grinned.

"It seems that what I've heard about your strength from ojou-sama is true," Setsuna observed. "She seems to be testing your spirit as well."

"And apparently... _our marriage_." Negi drew himself up, anger creeping into his features, but still largely kept in check. "I know about the affair, Setsuna."

The girl stopped, if only briefly, her face etched in shock. She lost her opportunity to counter Negi's rush, and would have suffered a great deal had she not pulled a panicked evasive maneuver at the last second. "W-what...?!" Setsuna stood her ground, but didn't attack—her face was red with telltale shock. "Since w-when did you...?"

Negi stopped his attack, and sat down, hands pressed on his knees. "I've known for a good while, though Konoka did confess last night. To be honest, I should have known this would happen—especially since I've known all along about your feelings," It felt so strangely cathartic that Negi allowed himself to smile—just a little bit.

"No... I..." Setsuna still stuttered, at a loss for words.

"I can't do anything about changing Konoka's mind, or yours. I can't change myself either—I'm still very much in love with her, despite what she's done. Nobody's going to change that," Negi said. "I erroneously thought back then that you could find your own happiness."

"I _can_, and I _have_," Setsuna hissed.

"But only after you nearly committed suicide through trying to take down a swarm of high level demons. And even then, all I need to do is look in your eyes—they still say that you're still lonely," Negi coolly countered, gazing directly into her eyes. "That still baffles me... why did you do that?"

"Negi-sensei, you know my line of work is dangerous. Always has been, always will be. You and Asuna-san have even fought alongside me, even when you first came here several years ago," Setsuna answered.

"There's a difference between fighting dangerous missions and trying to bite more than you can chew," Negi pressed. "You aren't stupid, and neither am I."

Setsuna clenched her teeth, but then sighed. "...when you guys were married, I felt my goal to protect ojou-sama was now officially useless. Ojou-sama now had you as a strong, dependable guardian and loving significant other. What was I supposed to do? I felt like my reason for existing was taken away from me..." Her voice shook, perhaps with sorrow, perhaps with frustration.

Negi didn't like that, weary of the ticking time bomb in front of him. Still, he pressed on. "Konoka didn't think so. She's a dear friend to you, and I would never take her away from you."

"That... doesn't even matter. I was still jealous," Setsuna lamented. "I tried everything I knew to distract myself. It wasn't working—even if I couldn't worry over her romantically, I still worried over her, even with you by her side. I didn't want to lust after ojou-sama's happiness, but I still didn't want to lose her!"

"But did you think that maybe _I_ didn't want to lose her either?" Negi's voice only had the slightest edge, but even that was more than enough. "Driving a wedge between you two is the _last_ thing I want to do, but—" He stopped. He couldn't complete this train of thought. He already came here for a purpose, and now he just ran into one more reason why he had to do this.

Setsuna's face was still red, but her voice was rising. "So imagine my shock when ojou-sama came to me one day. She still wanted me to be _her partner_. I couldn't... no, I wouldn't refuse! Even knowing what I was doing..." Now her hands were trembling. "She and I... it felt good to be _needed_ again, to be just like we used to be back then."

Negi sighed. "When I talked to her last night, I did wonder if she merely married me just so your relationship with her would not be questioned."

"Believe me, Negi-sensei! I didn't mean to—!"

"You didn't mean to what?" Negi interrupted, somehow staying cool. It might have been because he understood the situation far more than she apparently did. "I'm gonna guess and say that you want to say 'get between or ruin our marriage', right? I'm sorry, but you kinda did get between us..."

Setsuna's despair-stricken face could not have looked worse, unless Konoka herself died. "Negi-sama! Please... _forget me_!" She bowed so heavily her face was nearly buried in the earth. "I'm really sorry! Go make ojou—Kono-chan happy! I don't deserve this, or anything! I'm sorry..."

It was painful for Negi to bear. The misunderstanding she—no, _both_ of them had about each other was ending... _now_. Negi gently lifted her head out of the earth, and simply answered her despair by locking lips with hers.

The positively electric effect it had on Setsuna spread to Negi as well. It felt so... powerful. So good. They finally drifted apart. Stunned yet again, Setsuna stammered, "Oh no, I—I-I..."

"Setsuna-san... you poor thing," Negi whispered, hugging her closely. "You didn't think about yourself at all, to the point that you lost your own happiness. Granted, it was kind of our fault, too, but still... Anyway, I'm going to put this simply—you got in between our marriage, so now we're going to let you in completely."

"Really?" Setsuna's flushed face looked almost childish.

"Yeah... I want you to protect Konoka with me." Negi smiled.

Setsuna let herself mimic that heartfelt smile.

Alas, this scene did not last very long.

"Geez, Negi-kun. Kissing Secchan behind my back," Konoka Konoe stood there, her face an expression of mock anger. Her cheeks were puffed with indignation. Somehow, both Negi and Setsuna were enraptured by her angry beauty. "And not even inviting me to play, too? I'm heartbroken!"

"We were catching up," Negi explained simply.

Konoka went from her faked anger to a genuine smile. "So I'm glad you could accept my selfish wish, Negi-kun..." She turned to Setsuna as well. "Secchan." She twirled happily. "The two most important people in my world don't need to be in separate worlds to find happiness with me—I have enough for both of you!"

"Ojou-sa—" Setsuna began, but Konoka gave her a look—Negi recognized _that_ one. That adorable pout used only when things not going her way bothered her—especially concerning her most treasured loved ones. He knew Setsuna was in _loads_ of trouble now. And apparently, so did she. "Err... K-Kono-chan?"

"We're going to fix you, Secchan," Konoka announced in a grim voice, and with unsurprising and yet still awe inspiring grace, she whipped out some rope and lassoed Setsuna in it. "And the first thing we're going to fix is that you drop this 'ojou-sama' and 'Negi-sama' business!" And Konoka and Negi happily dragged Setsuna back to the car, where the bound samurai struggled futilely against her fate.

"O-o-oojou-sama?! Y-you can't do this! This is madness!" Setsuna protested, her face the shade of most tomatoes.

"Madness? This is saishoudoukin!" Konoka happily countered.

Screw the oncoming politics—Negi no longer had an argument with that.

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(This ends "Conversation Pieces". Some of my sharper readers may have noticed a few things:

a. For all this talk about politics, why haven't they run into anything?

b. So why DOES Konoka like Setsuna? Almost nobody answers that question, and so far I have not been the exception.

Those are answers for future oneshots (I at least hope to do b very soon). More or less, think of this story as a sort of... slice-of-life drama. A connected theme or 'canon', the chapters are all separate. Thank you for your time! As always, concrit appreciated.)


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